-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is not ready to admit that Republicans gave Democrats a thumping in last week 's midterm elections .

`` I do not believe what happened the other night is a wave , '' the California Democrat told Politico in a story published Wednesday . `` There was no wave of approval for the Republicans . I wish them congratulations , they won the election , but there was no wave of approval for anybody . There was an ebbing , an ebb tide , for us . ''

Republicans have so far expanded their House majority with 10 pick-ups last week , with seven seats still outstanding . Of those seven , two will be decided in Louisiana runoffs next month -- where the GOP is heavily favored -- and the GOP candidate has a narrow lead in three of the other five races .

If they win the two runoffs as expected and everyone holds their current leads , then they 'll have a net gain of 15 seats , for a total of 249 seats .

Asked whether Pelosi is thinking about stepping down as House Democratic leader , she said she is especially needed now .

`` Quite frankly , if we would have won , I would have thought about leaving , '' she said .

Pelosi was one of the few Democratic leaders holding out hope for her party ahead of the midterms , saying they `` will do OK '' and predicting Democrats would retake control as soon as 2016 .

CNN 's Robert Yoon contributed to this report .

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Nancy Pelosi dismisses claims that the midterms reflected a wave election for the GOP

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She says she 's needed now more than ever and indicates no plan to step down